How does an Internal Calandria work exactly? I searched the internets, couldn't find a good picture.

The reason I ask is that I'm trying to see how I could reduce the footprint of my brewery in anticipation of possibly either moving into a small apartment, or else (if we move into a larger space) allowing SWMBO to tolerate an actual brewscupture in the kitchen. Srsly!!!

I am attempting to "design/conceptualize" a 6 foot tall brew sculpture that sits on a floor space no larger than, say, 6 square feet and is capable of doing full boils on a kitchen stove. Of course, a pump would be used. I am wondering whether it would be possible to use a calandria to heat the wort, and then get it back into an insulated brewkettle, allowing for a constantly recirculating of the wort to keep the temps up above boiling with a minimal heat source such as a kitchen stove.

Are you talking about using an electric element encased in a copper/CPVC tube and recirculating through that to raise or maintain temps? If so it is completly doable, just look at the SABCO set-ups, they use an element to maintain and step the mashes up.

Are you talking about using an electric element encased in a copper/CPVC tube and recirculating through that to raise or maintain temps? If so it is completly doable, just look at the SABCO set-ups, they use an element to maintain and step the mashes up.

I partially understand how an internal calandria works. I'm guessing the complexity of such a system is well beyond the relm of homebrewing in your kitchen. I think I'd start looking instead in the electric heat stick direction for boiling.

Quote:

Some breweries have a boiling unit outside of the kettle, sometimes called a calandria, through which wort is pumped. The unit is usually a tall, thin cylinder, with many tubes upward through it. These tubes provide an enormous surface area on which vapor bubbles can nucleate, and thus provides for excellent volatization. The total volume of wort is circulated seven to twelve times an hour through this external boiler, insuring that the wort is evenly boiled by the end of the boil. The wort is then boiled in the kettle at atmospheric pressure, and through careful control the inlets and outlets on the external boiler, an overpressure can be achieve in the external boiler, raising the boiling point a few Celsius degrees. Upon return to the boil kettle, a vigorous vaporization occurs. The higher temperature due to increased vaporization can reduce boil times up to 30%. External boilers were originally designed to improve performance of kettles which did not provide adequate boiling effect, but have since been adopted by the industry as a sole means of boiling wort.

Modern brewhouses can also be equipped with internal calandria, which requires no pump. It works on basically the same principle as external units, but relies on convection to move wort through the boiler. This can prevent overboiling, as a deflector above the boiler reduces foaming, and also reduces evaporation. Internal calandria are generally difficult to clean.

It just sounds to me like a fancy pressure cooker with something like a column going up.

That's kind of what I picture for an external calandria. Even then, you don't know how tall the thing would need to be, how fast to circulate the wort, how many cylinders, etc. For an internal calandria, I have no idea how you would do this on a kitchen-level scale.

That's kind of what I picture for an external calandria. Even then, you don't know how tall the thing would need to be, how fast to circulate the wort, how many cylinders, etc. For an internal calandria, I have no idea how you would do this on a kitchen-level scale.

I guess an external would make more sense, if any sense at all. Again, I don't know anything more than anybody else, but I am curious enough to try and at least figure out how these things really work. Apparently Victory Brewing uses an external one...

I needs to see a picture, or a cutaway drawing or something... I'm not even completely clear yet on how they work. It sounds kind of like a Steam-Injected Mashing System... only for boiling. I'm thinking it could work to reduce the energy needs, and thereby allow for full boils from a stovetop provided that 5 of the 6 sides are insulated to minimize heat loss (something that can't be done with a pot on a stove).

A calandria dramatically increases the total surface area of wort in contact with steam jacketing. Our calandria design integrates steam jacket columns, a shroud and a splash plate to create a vigorous, controlled, thermal flowÝpattern. This helps sweep bubbles from all surfaces and works to prevent boil-over. A rotating spraybar just above theÝcalandria facilitates thorough cleaning. The shroud can easily be removed for inspection.

It sounds like they pipe steam up through jackets in the boil kettle to transfer the heat. Got any ideas how to do that on a 8-10 gallon pot scale? I bet some of the steam mashing guys may have some ideas.